THE CATALOG OF EARTH-LIKE EXOPLANET SURVEY TARGETS (CELESTA): A DATABASE OF HABITABLE ZONES AROUND NEARBY STARS

ABSTRACT Locating planets in circumstellar habitable zones (HZs) is a priority for many exoplanet surveys. Space-based and ground-based surveys alike require robust toolsets to aid in target selection and mission planning. We present the Catalog of Earth-Like Exoplanet Survey Targets (CELESTA), a da...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astronomical journal 2016-03, Vol.151 (3), p.59
Main Authors: Chandler, Colin Orion, McDonald, Iain, Kane, Stephen R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
astrobiology
astronomical databases: miscellaneous
Circumstellar habitable zone
Computation
Extrasolar planets
Mathematical models
planetary systems
planets and satellites: detection
Stars
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Summary:ABSTRACT Locating planets in circumstellar habitable zones (HZs) is a priority for many exoplanet surveys. Space-based and ground-based surveys alike require robust toolsets to aid in target selection and mission planning. We present the Catalog of Earth-Like Exoplanet Survey Targets (CELESTA), a database of HZs around 37,000 nearby stars. We calculated stellar parameters, including effective temperatures, masses, and radii, and we quantified the orbital distances and periods corresponding to the circumstellar HZs. We gauged the accuracy of our predictions by contrasting CELESTA's computed parameters to observational data. We ascertain a potential return on investment by computing the number of HZs probed for a given survey duration. A versatile framework for extending the functionality of CELESTA into the future enables ongoing comparisons to new observations, and recalculations when updates to HZ models, stellar temperatures, or parallax data become available. We expect to upgrade and expand CELESTA using data from the Gaia mission as the data become available.
ISSN:0004-6256
1538-3881
DOI:10.3847/0004-6256/151/3/59